Schools vie for charter school of year award

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011, 7:05am

Schools vie for charter school of year award

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Charter Schools Association has created a "charter school of the year" award with help from the Coca-Cola Foundation.

The first winner of the award will be announced at the association's annual meeting in October in Macon. The award carries a $50,000 prize.

Schools in the 18-county Metro Atlanta area can qualify. They must have been open five years and have demonstrated academic success and sound fiscal practices.

Georgia has more than 200 charter schools statewide. The schools are funded by taxpayer dollars but are given flexibility in how they meet federal education benchmarks.

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Music Instrument Donation Drive, One Child at a time

Submitted by Jen Farris, Culture Writer and Producer

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011, 2:01am

ONE CHILD. ONE INSTRUMENT. ONE LIFE Music Instrument Donation Drive

July 18 - Aug 6

The ONE CHILD. ONE INSTRUMENT. ONE LIFE Campaign for Atlanta Music Project is receiving working woodwind, string, and percussion instruments to enact 'music for social change' upon underserved kids in Atlanta. Donors will receive a tax receipt.

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Several Metro Atlanta governments raising property tax rates

Submitted by Paul Crawley, 11Alive Reporter

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 9:24pm

JONESBORO, Ga. -- It seems like cash-strapped local governments are hiking property taxes all over Metro Atlanta.

Tuesday night Clayton County Commissioners were set to vote on a whopping 34 percent millage rate hike and Cobb County's on a 17 percent jump.

DeKalb County Commissioners recently passed a 26 percent increase.

Fulton County Commissioners held the line and Gwinnett County's are leaning against a higher rate.

All are telling their taxpayers they have cut government services about all they can and still provide basic services.

All are hurting for the same reason, a shrinking tax base.

Clayton County, for example, lost about $1 billion in property tax value over the past year thanks to shuttered businesses, layoffs, empty new store fronts, and home mortgage foreclosures.

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RAW VIDEO: Investigators call APS under Hall a 'disaster'

Submitted by Ben Mayer on Tuesday, July 26th, 3:18 pm

ATLANTA -- APS investigators call the state of Atlanta schools under Dr. Beverly Hall a "disaster." In their first sit down interview, Mike Bowers and Bob Wilson talk about a "heartbreaking" culture of corruption.

It has been a long 10 months for Bowers and Wilson, the special investigators that oversaw the scathing report on Atlanta Public Schools.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Atlanta Public Schools CRCT Investigation

Wilson says he lost track of days, sitting in a conference room from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., conducting and pouring over the 2,100 interviews they conducted and 800,000 documents they examined.

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Atlanta Dreams Back to School Game $8.00 Tickets

Submitted by The Coupon Diva, The Coupon Diva

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 1:02pm

Atlanta Dreams Back to School Game $8.00 Tickets

JULY 28, 7:00 PM

Philips Arena

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY for this exciting rivalry!’ Tickets as low as $8

Clinch bags for the first 3,000 fans!

Click the logo below to purchase your tickets TODAY! They are going fast!

(Special Offer Code: clayton)

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/go.htmI?l=EN&t=wnbaatlanta&o=212746&g=776

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DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs held Grand Opening for Exchange Park Rec

Submitted by Dekalbparksandrec on Tuesday, July 26th, 12:20 pm

DECATUR – DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Department held a grand opening ceremony yesterday, July 25th, for the new Exchange Park Recreation Center, 2771 Columbia Drive in Decatur.

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Free and cheap school supplies

Submitted by Valerie Hoff, 11Alive Reporter

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 11:06am

ATLANTA -- This is the best time of year to buy both school supplies and office supplies. Some things are as low as a penny, or even free after rebates!

I set out to find the best deals on a typical kindergarten or first grade supply list from Atlanta Public Schools.

I found the most convenient way to buy supplies is to order them through SchoolPak.com. The company will ship a box of required supplies to your home or school. The first grade list came to $55.34 including shipping.

I set out to see if I could find better deals in the stores. First our summer intern Katie and I went through the weekly sale flyers in search of the lowest possible prices for every item on our list.

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